Interesting note from ESPN's stat people, noting how losing Derrick Rose can affect the Bulls defense as much an an opponents':

Nobody took advantage of Rose’s absence more than Sixers guard Jrue Holiday. Holiday poured in a postseason career-high 26 points and shot 11-15 on field goals. During the series, Holiday has shot the ball nearly twice as well with Rose on the bench than when he was on the court (70.6 to 37.5).

Doug Collins said post-game that there's no mistake that Holiday is a scoring PG, and he's encouraged to jeep shooting like one. And without Rose there really isn't a natural defensive matchup on the Bulls roster who can match Holiday's quickness without being all John Lucas and such.

Holiday also managed to hold his own on his own defensive assignment of Rip Hamilton, something we thought that could be an advantage for the Bulls. And as Sam Smith noted, he had more help as well.

The Bulls in Game 1 handled the 76ers with the movement and play of both Richard Hamilton and Kyle Korver, who one scout said scored almost every time in the same so called "floppy" play the Bulls ran some two dozen times. It’s where they run the baseline and curl over a downscreen with either a pass to the screening big man or shot. The 76ers shut that down with an aggressive big man trap off the screen and changing the angle to deny the pass inside.

And that defensive help is yet another thing that is affected by not having to worry about the MVP.